Mr. Seward to Mr. Van Limburg.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 27th instant, with the accompanying papers, relative to a supposed improper interference by the court of general sessions at New York, in a dispute between the captain of the Netherland vessel the Jan Van Galen and her carpenter, named Herman Nepping. You allege that the court referred to had no jurisdiction in the mtter, and you request this government to reprimand that tribunal, and to issue orders to courts and judges of the United States to abstain from interfering in similar disputes. You also request reparation to the captain of the Jan Van Galen for the damage which he has sustained.
In reply, I have the honor to inform you that this department has no authority to reprimand or to issue orders to any judicial tribunal in this country, especially to a State court. According to the system of government prevalent here, the courts of justice are independent of the Executive. Any party summoned before them has the privilege of being represented by counsel, and, in most cases, of appealing from any decision supposed to be unjust. Whether the court of general sessions at New York had jurisdiction of the case referred to, was a question for that court itself to decide in the first instance, and if the captain or the consul general of your government feels aggrieved by a decision in the affirmative, there certainly is a right of appeal to other courts, which would review that judgment and bring it into conformity with the laws and treaties of the United States. This government has no other constitutional means of effecting such results.
I am not aware of any treaty stipulation between the United States and the Netherlands which gives to the consuls of the latter unqualified jurisdiction over disputes between masters of vessels and their crews. The phrase to which you refer in the exequatur of the consul of the Netherlands cannot, in the opinion of this department, be construed as conferring so important a power. This can only result from a treaty, which the President of the United States alone cannot conclude without the advice and consent of the Senate.
I have the honor to be, sir, your very obedient servant,
Mr. Roest Van Limburg, &c., &c., &c.